In Croatian, the town is known as Šibenik, in Italian as Sebenico, in German as Sibennig, in Latin as Sebenicum, and in Hungarian as Sibenik.

Climate

Šibenik has a Mediterranean climate, with mild, humid winters and hot, dry summers. January and February are the coldest months, July and August are the hottest months. In July the average maximum temperature is around 30 °C (86 °F).

History

Early history

Unlike other cities along the Adriatic coast, which were established by Greeks, Illyrians and Romans, Šibenik was founded by Croats.Excavations of the castle of Saint Michael, have since proven that the place was inhabited long before the actual arrival of the Croats. It was mentioned for the first time under its present name in 1066 in a Charter of the Croatian KingPetar Krešimir IV and, for a period of time, it was a seat of this Croatian King. For that reason, Šibenik is also called "Krešimirov grad" (Krešimir's city). It is the oldest native Croatian town on the eastern shores of the Adriatic.

Between the 11th and 12th centuries, Šibenik was tossed back and forth among Venice, Byzantium, Hungary and the Kingdom of Bosnia. It was conquered by the Republic of Venice in 1116, who held it until 1124, when they briefly lost it to the Byzantine Empire, and then held it again until 1133 when it was retaken by the Kingdom of Hungary. It would change hands amongst the aforementioned states several more times until 1180.

The city, like the rest of Dalmatia, resisted the Venetians in a three-year war that was resolved in their favor in 1412.The Ottoman Empire started to threaten Šibenik, as part of their struggle against Venice, at the end of the 15th century, but they never succeeded in conquering it. In the 16th century, St. Nicholas Fortress was built and, by the 17th century, its fortifications were improved again by the fortresses of St. John (Tanaja) and Šubićevac (Barone).

In an August 1995 military operation, Croatian Army defeated the Serb forces and freed the occupied areas, which created the basic conditions for its post-war recovery and allowed the region to continue to develop as the centre of Šibenik-Knin county. Architecturally, the damaged parts of the city have been fully reconstructed.

Several successive architects built it completely in stone between 1431 and 1536, both in Gothic and in Renaissance style. The interlocking stone slabs of the Cathedral's roof were damaged when the city was shelled by Serbian forces in 1991. The damage has since been repaired.